Wherever you may be today, I hope you’re staying safe in the winter weather sweeping through the country. It’s certainly a bit more rare for those of us in Mississippi and it’s important we follow the lead of our local government and law enforcement to ensure safe travels. We don’t want any Bulldogs out there getting hurt!

That said, business continues for Mississippi State athletics, even if it’s not exactly “as usual.” The University is closed for the day, but we’re still fully operational through the day and weekend, and we’ve got a lot going on the next few days! Be safe today, and hopefully the roads will be ready for you to come see us this weekend.

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BASEBALL OFF TO HOT START

As of this morning, there were only seven unbeaten and untied teams in the country, and only two in the SEC. At 9-0, our 14th-ranked Bulldogs are one of them and we’re tied for the most wins among them despite missing a game last week! Coach Cohen’s club has already been a great deal of fun to watch, and this weekend ought to be the best yet.

While things are a bit hairy out there today, we hope you’ll be able to join us this weekend for our biggest set of games yet. We welcome Arizona and Samford to town, two strong programs who ought to serve as good competition for our guys. We need a big crowd this weekend to cheer on the Bulldogs!

On that note, we do have some time changes to mention. Friday’s game against Arizona (broadcast on SEC Network+) has been moved up to 4 p.m. to take advantage of the warmer temperatures offered in the daylight. Saturday’s games have been moved up as well. Our first game against Arizona will now begin 11 a.m. and will be broadcast on the SEC Network, while our second game of the doubleheader (against Samford) will begin 35 minutes following the conclusion of that game and be broadcast on SEC Network+. As of now, we do not expect to change the time of the Sunday game, which will be against Samford at 4:30 p.m., but stay tuned for the possibility.

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WOMEN’S BASKETBALL HOME FINALE AGAINST OLE MISS

If it seems like there are a lot of big games this week, it’s because there are, and it starts tonight when Coach Schaefer’s 11th-ranked women play at South Carolina at 6 p.m. on FSN. They flew over Tuesday to get ahead of the weather and we’ll be cheering them on tonight!

Then we’ve got another huge game on Sunday at 1 p.m. when our Bulldogs host Ole Miss for the last home game of the regular season. Just as we did Wednesday night for our men’s team, Sunday is another opportunity to blackout The Hump, as well as a chance to create a great atmosphere and cheer on a team that has been incredibly successful this year. With each win, a new record is set for wins in a season at MSU, and we’re currently sitting at 25.

Now, you may have noticed I said this will be the last home game of the regular season. It’s very much unsettled right now, but the possibility exists that our Bulldogs could be selected as a host for the women’s NCAA Tournament when the postseason begins. We’re planning a selection show party which we’ll have more details on soon, and it will be then that we find out if we get to host.

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OTHER NOTES

We wish a big good luck to our track and field teams this weekend as they will be competing in the indoor SEC Championships in Lexington. Many of those events will be on SEC Network+ and I’d encourage you to check it out. We’ll be hosting the outdoor championships later this spring.

Good luck to both our tennis teams, as well, as our men travel to Alabama and our women to Vanderbilt as SEC play gets underway. Our ladies are 9-1 to start the season, while our men are 8-3 after facing some strong competition.

Congratulations once again to our women’s golf team, ranked No. 3 in the country, who earned yet another Top 10 finish earlier this week in the Allstate Sugar Bowl Intercollegiate in New Orleans! They have a well-earned weekend off before going to the Darius Rucker Classic in South Carolina next week.

Elsewhere, I say both job well done and good luck to our softball team. Coach Stuedeman’s club is off to an impressive 13-1 start and plays in Orlando all weekend.

And finally, congratulations to our men’s golf team for a Top-10 finish in Mobile to start their season earlier this week, and we wish them continued success in Lafayette for the Louisiana Classics early next week.

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We appreciate what you do for Mississippi State Athletics and want to encourage you to get others involved. There are three things you can do to help the athletic department at Mississippi State reach its desired goals –